Pilot program aims to reduce medical errors

Interview with Dr. Gawande on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at bottom of story.

South Carolina has been chosen for a pilot program to bring surgical "checklists" into every operating room.

For patients, this means careful attention will be paid by every member of the surgical team by the simple task of going through a checklist before, during and after an operation.

The South Carolina Hospital Association announced this partnership Wednesday with Dr. Atul Gawande, a Boston-based surgeon and author.

Gawande, who also writes regularly in the New Yorker, helped introduce surgical safety checklists for the World Health Organization. His book, "The Checklist Manifesto," was a New York Times best seller.